Our stories

A considered approach to the conservation of the McCrae family collection

A considered approach to the conservation of the McCrae family collection

September 17, 2019

Collection Care, Conservation, Our stories:

Kathleen Rowbottom, Professional Placement, Conservation, Collections Care. The papers of the McCrae family collection are extensive and feature a range of different objects: from bound volumes such as scrapbooks, diaries… Read More ›

Image: collage of title pages of various publications in NED.

When NED rode into town

August 14, 2019

Collection, Our stories:

Australian libraries join forces to build national digital collection By Kate Torney, Chair of National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA) and CEO, State Library Victoria This month something truly remarkable… Read More ›

The Johnny Crow stories

The Johnny Crow stories

July 23, 2019

Arts & literature, Our stories:

In the early twentieth century, author Leslie Brooke developed new techniques that were to influence many in what became the Golden Age of Children’s books.

The chaos and order of Marion Page

The chaos and order of Marion Page

June 28, 2019

Collection Care, Our stories, People & professions, Preservation, Social life & customs:

Follow the journey of a large, multi-format Manuscript collection belonging to the late Marion Page from a South Yarra storage room to our Preservation team.

Francis Frith in exotic Middle Eastern dress

Extract from ‘True portraiture: David Roberts’ The Holy Land and Francis Frith’s Photographic prints of Egyptian antiquities’

June 27, 2019

Our stories, Painting, Photography:

Europe went crazy for all things Egyptian in the early 19th century, which helps explain why the Library’s collection includes rare works by two famous Egyptologists: painter David Roberts and photographer Francis Frith.

The Chief Librarian and the soap thieves

The Chief Librarian and the soap thieves

June 6, 2019

Our stories, People & professions:

In 1887, someone was stealing the State Library soap- or was it ‘someones’?

From celebrity to the streets, the power of photojournalism

From celebrity to the streets, the power of photojournalism

June 5, 2019

Our stories, People & professions:

Over the course of his 50-year career, news photographer Bruce Postle captured images of the rich, the famous and the powerful. But on many occasions, his work also involved the most humble and vulnerable people in the community.

‘Dear Walt’: Whitman in Victoria

‘Dear Walt’: Whitman in Victoria

May 31, 2019

Our stories:

Victorian school teacher Bernard O’Dowd entered a brief but remarkably intense and intimate correspondence with American poet and iconoclast Walt Whitman.

A hidden treasure, no more: Conservation treatment of ‘View of the north shore’

A hidden treasure, no more: Conservation treatment of ‘View of the north shore’

April 18, 2019

Collection Care, Conservation, Our stories:

Conservation treatment has returned strength and aesthetic unity to this vibrant watercolour, allowing this important artwork to be appreciated by the public once more.

Walking the blue lake

Walking the blue lake

April 16, 2019

Buildings & streets, Cities & towns, Our stories:

Dr David Sornig ponders the history of West Melbourne’s lost wetlands, and takes us on a collective journey around the area.